Worst Episode of Star Trek : Season One Part One

[Mallory]

I think we'll leave it open for a while longer in case anyone wants to throw in an additional comment or two. There's no real reason to close it.

 

[Keith1701]

cooleddie74 said:
"The Alternative Factor." Easily.

A supreme turkey in special effects, logical storytelling and acting chops. A real mess of a TREK episode and arguably one of the worst episodes of the entire TREK television franchise to date. Cheesy opticals...a wooden Lazarus(or is that two?)...an almost incomprehensible and goofy plot about two universes meeting at a corridor. Ugh. A mess. Even the recent CGI Remastering did nothing to make this one any better.

of course...

 

[Garth Rockett]

Mallory said:
I think we'll leave it open for a while longer in case anyone wants to throw in an additional comment or two. There's no real reason to close it.

Whatever you think is best!

 

[cooleddie74]

Keith1701 said:

cooleddie74 said:
"The Alternative Factor." Easily.

A supreme turkey in special effects, logical storytelling and acting chops. A real mess of a TREK episode and arguably one of the worst episodes of the entire TREK television franchise to date. Cheesy opticals...a wooden Lazarus(or is that two?)...an almost incomprehensible and goofy plot about two universes meeting at a corridor. Ugh. A mess. Even the recent CGI Remastering did nothing to make this one any better.

of course...

Baby, with an episode THIS bad the only thing you CAN do to make it better is just not watch.

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

Am I reading that poll correctly? Did someone actually vote Balance of Terror among the worst?

Oh well, to each his/her own.

 

[cooleddie74]

^
Must be someone visiting from the Mirror Universe.

Or a heavy meth addict.

 

[UnknownSample]

Kegek said:

The Squire of Gothos said:
I knew I'd vote and see one of my more liked episodes (The Alternative Factor) trashed

You're not alone.

Indeed you're not. The feeding frenzy around this one episode is incomprehensible. Extremely compelling idea... if flaws such as the switches between Lazaruses not always making sense are causing the negative opinions... good grief, don't throw the baby out of the bathwater. (Sorry, cliches save time.) All of your favorites have flaws too. AF had an enormous impact on me as a child, and still does. Best use of the alternate universe idea, I think. The later ones used it more as a gimmick.

That expository conversation in the briefing room, laying out the threat... one of the best scenes ever. Conclusion-- they managed to imagine a new kind of Hell, and a new level of sacrifice. The anti-matter planet was a set instead of on location, and it gave that scene a very creepy air that's difficult to put your finger on, at first.

This poll has problems. It assumes that each season has candidates for worst episode. season one doesn't. I had to pick solid but less interesting ones: Court Martial, Conscience of the King (the girlfriend-killer was supposed to be creepy, I know, but she's like nails on a blackboard), and Mudd's Women-- no real SF premise, Ent crew always on the verge of crude sex jokes, and... the Enterprise if full of women already! Even taking into account that drug, why were the men that flustered?)

As for BoT... that's a good, solid one too, but after seeing all the worship of what's basically a well-done action story lifted from a sub movie, I'd be a bit relieved if that were getting a few more votes. I used to watch ST to get away from the war shows (and westerns).

 

[AxelFoley]

Oh damn I'm too late. For those interested, I would have voted on:

The Alternative Factor
Mudd's Women
Dagger of the Mind

 

[cooleddie74]

"Mudd's Women" is one I kind of like for two and only two reasons: the women. And Roger C. Carmel. Other than their campy and fun performances the story just goes nowhere. Kirk should have just locked onto a deposit of dilithium somewhere outside the miners' compound and beamed it to the Enterprise. Or took the shit.